Family
by JennyGranger
Summary: Day 1 of Zutara Week.


I own nothing. Enjoy.

Family

With a content sigh, Zuko fell back onto the red satin sheets and turned his head to look over at his wife. His gold eyes met her blue ones and a comfortable silence fell between them. The only sound was the shifting of the blankets as she moved to place her head on his shoulder and take in his warmth. He placed his lips on her temple and they were once again still.

Until a loud knock resounded throughout the room causing them both to sit up and scramble for sheets to cover their bodies.

"What?" Zuko asked harshly.

"I need to speak with you, Zuko, as soon as you are dressed," Iroh's voice sounded from the other side of the door, "You know I wouldn't interrupt you unless it was important."

Zuko sighed and met eyes with Katara again, this time out of annoyance. However, she had to side with his uncle.

"He's got a point," she said, pulling the sheets off him and wrapping them all around herself, "It's got to be important. Go," she encouraged, pushing at him with her foot.

He sighed again and stood up, walking over to the armoire to dig out a robe. Once that was on, he made his way over to the door and pulled it open, squeezed through it and shut it behind him, leaving Katara to get dressed on her own.

"What is it, Uncle?" Zuko asked, crossing his arms and standing over the elder.

"Calm down, Zuko. I know you're upset I interrupted you, but, as I said, I wouldn't have if it wasn't important."

"So get on with it!"

Iroh took a deep breath and stared into his nephew's eyes before speaking.

"We found your mother."

"You - What?" Zuko faltered, obviously taken by surprise.

"What's going on?" Katara asked, stepping out from the room donned in one of Zuko's bed robes.

"They found my mother?" Zuko asked, not even appearing to have heard his wife.

"In a small village in the Earth Kingdom," Iroh said, glancing over at Katara to make sure she was keeping up with everything. Zuko's head snapped up.

"She's… alive?"

"Yes," Iroh said, "I had your crew start preparing a ship so we can take off soon. And I have also sent a messenger hawk ahead to alert her of our arrival."

"How long until the ship's ready?" Zuko asked.

"As soon as you're ready," Iroh said, "Go get dressed, you two. We'll head out soon."

Two hours later, Zuko was standing at the bow of the ship, watching it cut its path through the water. He wasn't at all surprised when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist and a head rested on his shoulder. He shifted to wrap his own arm around Katara. They stood there for several minutes in silence before he voiced a thought that had been plaguing him since they left.

"What if she doesn't recognize me?"

"Oh, Zuko," Katara said, placing her hand on the side of his face, covering his scar, "She's your mother. She'll recognize you as soon as she sees your smile."

She felt more than saw him smile as they lapsed into silence once more. This time, it was short-lived as Zuko broke it once more.

"I've dreamed of this moment for years. I can't believe it's actually here."

Katara said nothing, but allowed her husband to revel in this moment. She kept her head where it was but slid her hand down so it rested on his shoulder. They stood there together, watching the boat cut through the water, making its way to a small port in the Earth Kingdom and something Zuko had always imagined.

"Are you ready Zuko?" Iroh asked the next day, as the village came into their view. Zuko said nothing, but kept his eyes on the road in front of them. He merely urged his komodo rhino onward. Katara wondered if he even noticed when she tightened her grip around his waist.

Throughout the entire trip, Zuko had been tense, hardly saying anything to anyone. They all knew he was going through various scenarios of how this encounter could play out. And, knowing him, each one went worse than the last.

Once they arrived at the village and dismounted, it was obvious Zuko was stalling when he kept making adjustments to his rhino's saddle. After watching him mess with the straps holding the storage bags in place, Katara finally approached him. She waited patiently until he finally dropped his hands to his sides and looked at her. Then she wrapped her arms around him.

"It'll be fine," she said, pulling back to look him in the eyes, "Do you want me to wait out here or be in there with you?"

Without saying anything, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. She held him once again as he buried his face in her hair and whispered, "I… don't know."

"Zuko?" They looked up as Iroh approached them, "Come on, nephew."

Zuko took a deep breath and detached himself from Katara. She gave his arm a comforting squeeze and whispered, "I'll be right here," before letting him go to follow his uncle. However, before they could take more than a couple of steps away, the door of the hut they had stopped in front of them opened. A woman with golden eyes and long, dark hair stood on the threshold. Zuko stopped in his tracks, and everyone waited for something to happen.

"Zuko," she said, stepping forward, holding out her arms, "My son."

"Mom," Zuko suddenly relaxed and ran into her outstretched arms. She was a half-head shorter than him, but he still buried his head into her shoulder as if he was a small child again, "Mom…"

Katara and Iroh watched this scene with smiles on their faces. It was good to see Zuko so happy.

The embrace between mother and son lasted for several more minutes. When they finally broke apart, both of them had tears running down their faces. Ursa looked deep into Zuko's eyes before reaching out and tracing the bottom edge of his scar with her thumb. The question she wanted to ask was known to everyone on the scene.

"Ozai," Zuko said simply. She seemed to think for a minute before nodding, accepting the situation.

Silence fell over the small group. Ursa was the first to break it, looking over Zuko's shoulder, "So who's…?"

Zuko turned, following her gaze right to Katara. He smiled and stretched a hand out to her, "This is my wife, Katara."

The waterbender approached them, and allowed Zuko to wrap his arm around her waist. She held her hand out to her mother-in-law politely.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Katara said, and Ursa bowed respectively in response.

"Why don't we continue these introductions inside, out of the hot sun?" Iroh suggested, approaching the group, "I brought some ginseng tea that only needs to be warmed up." With that, he wandered back to the komodo rhino he had been riding and pulled out three large flasks.

A few minutes later, they had all gathered in the small living space of Ursa's hut, each with a cup of tea provided by Iroh. For the rest of the night, they laughed and talked about the adventures each of them has had. It turns out, after Ursa had been banished, she had traveled most of the Earth Kingdom before settling down in this village for the past two years. She explained that Ozai had threatened her if she tried any form of contact.

"It was terrible, sweetheart," she said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and squeezing. Zuko grinned.

"But now we can be a family again," he said, not caring that he was a 20-year-old Fire Lord and leaned his head on his mother's shoulder, "A proper family.

Finished at the very last minute. May be expanded after the week is over and I have more time.


End file.
